RCB’s batting has been one of their biggest strengths this season, especially in the middle and lower order.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made it to Qualifier 1 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 with a brilliant win, thanks to stand in captain Jitesh Sharma’s unbeaten 85 off just 33 balls. His knock helped RCB chase down the third highest target in IPL history.
Earlier, Rishabh Pant scored an unbeaten 118 off 61 balls to take Lucknow Super Giants to 227 for three. But RCB chased it down comfortably, winning by six wickets with eight balls left.
With this win, RCB finished second on the points table with 19 points from 14 matches. They won nine games, lost four and one match had no result. Last year, they reached the playoffs in fourth place but this time they have done even better.
RCB’s batting has been one of their biggest strengths this season, especially in the middle and lower order. For the first time in their IPL history, five different players batting at number five or lower have scored half-centuries in the same season. This broke their previous record of four fifties in 2014, when AB de Villiers and Yuvraj Singh had two each.
What is even better is that these five fifties were made by five different players. Tim David, Liam Livingstone, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, and Jitesh Sharma all played important roles and helped the team.
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In total, 10 different players have scored half-centuries for RCB this season. The names include Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Jacob Bethell, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Rajat Patidar, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Tim David, and Devdutt Padikkal. This is the highest number by any team in a single season.
In Qualifier 1, RCB will play against the table toppers Punjab Kings at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. By reaching Qualifier 1, RCB now has two chances to make it to the final as they aim to win their first ever IPL trophy.
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